Stars in your eyes, night in my heart
by pinkiethebandit
Summary: Danny's got something important to say to Paulina, but she jumps to the wrong conclusion, to their mutual mortification. (oneshot, Danny/Paulina established relationship, T for a couple swear words)


**AN:** Danny and Paulina are in college and have been dating for a little over a year, since the summer before their senior year in high school. Both of them live in the same neighborhood, a few blocks away from their university. (Sort of follows Strawberries and Cream, after a time gap)

* * *

Danny stepped back to survey his work with a critical eye. Not too bad, for a guy with almost zero sense of romanticism. A rooftop table set for two, graceful candles waiting to be lit, and a bouquet of pink, white and red carnations, Paulina's favorite flower. Most importantly, he knew for a fact that his lemon-y baked chicken was edible, though he didn't have the faintest idea how he'd pulled it off.

He took a deep breath, let it fill his chest and soak up the nerves, and then exhaled in a rush. Damn. Still nervous. But really there was no way he wasn't going to be. Just the thought of any part of the evening ahead catapulted his insides into a spectacular bout of acrobatics. The what-ifs were even worse. What if she didn't like what he had to say? What if the weatherman was wrong (again) and it rained? What if the sun decided to explode and wipe out the entire solar system?

At that last thought a choked, semi-hysterical laugh escaped him. _Relax, Fenton, contrary to what you might think, the cosmos is not out to get you._ He compulsively re-positioned one of the chairs, the one with a coat hanging off the back of it (for later) before picking up the bouquet and phasing through the roof, down two stories to the hallway outside Paulina's third floor apartment. He knocked on her door. She opened it, wearing a lacy cream-colored dress with a coral sash around the waist, hair done up in a calculatedly messy bun. A little thrill ran through him. She was so beautiful.

Danny held up the bouquet in greeting, afraid he might be too giddy to form proper words.

"Oh, Danny, they're perfect!" she exclaimed, beaming. She kissed his cheek and took the flowers. "Let me put them in some water, I'll be right back!"

He stayed petrified by the door until she returned. "So where are we going?"

He cleared his throat. Reasonably sure he could speak now without embarrassing himself, he answered, "Not far."

He took her hand and led her to the stairwell and then up all the way to the roof. "The roof? I got all dressed up for – " her words cut off when she spied the table.

"Oh, Danny! This is lovely!"

"I'm glad you like it," was his shy reply.

"I love it," she said and swooped in for a kiss. Danny's poor heart thundered plaintively. Really, the abuse it was being subjected to tonight was nothing short of criminal.

"Mmm," Paulina hummed happily against his lips, just before they broke the kiss. Mind deliciously blank, Danny stared contentedly down at her for a few moments. Paulina laughed. "You're doing it again."

Danny blinked hard a few times. "Me? Melting my brains is all you and your feminine wiles, missy. I'm an innocent victim."

"You tell yourself that, mister," she said, taking the seat Danny pulled out for her. He didn't take the other seat like she expected, instead shifting awkwardly from foot to foot.

Now? Or later? Now. The words had been eating him up for weeks, ever since he finally made the decision. He opened his mouth. Closed it tight. Wait, what about the food?! He couldn't let it get cold.

A corner of Paulina's mouth quirked up. Evidently he had something to say. "Yes?" she prompted.

Now. "There's, uh, something I want to – " he started. He stopped. It felt weird standing over her like this, sort of _looming_ almost. But he didn't want to sit either; that would put the table between them. He compromised by kneeling down in front of her. It wasn't until Paulina's shocked gasp reached his ears that he realized what this must look like and the blood drained from his face. Oh shit.

"Yes!" Paulina blurted.

Danny froze, dumbfounded, a harried apology dying on his lips and his heart doing a terrifying little back flip routine. Paulina's hands flew to her mouth, as if she were every bit as stunned by the grenade it had just launched as Danny was. The tiny remnant of Danny's rationality that had survived said grenade highly doubted that was possible. He'd not-asked Paulina to marry him and _she said yes_. Clearly his astonishment could run circles around hers, if it were so inclined.

Feeling like an awful, awful human being, Danny babbled into the profoundly mortified silence that had descended, "Paulina – I – I am so, so, so sorry. I didn't mean to give you the wrong impression – not that I don't – wouldn't! want to marry you – someday! I mean – maybe, if you want, after we've talked about it – " Paulina was nodding vigorously, wide-eyed and still reeling. "It's just – that's not what I was going to say."

"Right!" she said with the desperate relief of a bad swimmer latching onto a life preserver. "We haven't even talked about it yet – do you want to talk about it?"

Danny almost bit off the tip of his tongue preventing the giant **'NO!'** from escaping him. One big, scary, life-altering conversation at a time, woman! He hadn't even gotten around yet to telling her what he'd brought her up here to tell her! And in light of this little mix-up (consummately unhelpful, his heart whooped, _she said yes!_), he was long overdue.

He ran a hand through his hair, destroying the stylish comb he'd worked so hard to achieve earlier that evening. Then he took both of her hands in his, making them his anchor, and prayed this wouldn't be the last time she let him touch her so freely.

"It wouldn't be fair for me to bring up m-marr…that…before I tell you something about me. It's something I've been wanting to tell you for a while now. Something you deserve to know," he said solemnly.

Paulina nodded once, signaling him to continue.

"If it changes the way you feel about me, I understand." _It'll hurt like hell, but I'll understand._

Paulina nodded again, this time a little impatient and definitely apprehensive.

"When we were freshmen in high school, there was an accident with one of my parents' inventions, the Ghost Portal. I tried to fix it from the inside, and it zapped me. When I came to, I was different," he said. Unsteady inhale. "I was Danny Phantom."

He waited for the disbelief and the angry censure to come, as he'd imagined each one of the countless times this scene played out in his head. Only part of him (also, incidentally, the part that knew he could trust her with his secret identity) ever dared to hope she might understand his reasons for keeping this secret from her. The rest of him was sure that the lies would be too much for her to stomach, even if she could accept a not entirely human boyfriend.

Paulina frowned, all those sudden, suspicious disappearances and broken plans finally explained conclusively, aligning perfectly with that sense she'd always had that there was some connection between Danny Fenton and Danny Phantom. Then she smiled. "I'm not crazy! And I'm dating the Ghost Boy!"

Danny gaped at her. "That's it? No 'why didn't you tell me sooner?' or slapping or anything?"

Paulina smirked. "Do you want me to slap you?"

"No. But I wouldn't blame you if you did," he said, eyes downcast.

Paulina shrugged. "I'd rather kiss you, but that's nothing new. Danny, you could tell me you're from the moon and I would still want you, still need you. You're in my blood now, keeping me alive just as surely as oxygen."

Speechless, relieved, and so very _full_, Danny pulled her face down to his and kissed her softly.

* * *

He answered all her questions as best he could over dinner, everything from how can you be half ghost (my parents are working on a theory, but we're still not sure) to what does chicken taste like for you (uh, like chicken?) with palpable relief. It was so incredibly freeing to be able to share it all with her, to not have to hide that aspect of himself anymore.

Finally, she was quiet for a moment. Danny got the feeling she wasn't done, just thinking. "I'm honored that you trusted me enough to tell me this," she said softly.

Danny's heart swelled almost painfully. "I love you, Paulina."

Her eyes crinkled, like they always did when he said that to her. "I love you too, Danny."

"Now I have a question for you. Are you afraid of heights at all?" he asked.

"No," she said and cocked her head quizzically.

He helped her into the coat, then stood and went ghost (feeling curiously self-conscious). Paulina beamed as he picked her up gingerly, careful not to startle her. "Is this okay?" he asked. "Not too cold?"

"Perfect," she assured him.

She felt nice in his arms. Warm, like a mug of hot chocolate, the skin of her thigh supple under his fingers where her dress had ridden up. He pushed off from the rooftop gently. They were both quiet as the city fell away below them, Danny watching her face intently. When they reached the height he was aiming for, just high enough to overcome light pollution, he stilled. Night stretched infinite and glorious around them, and starlight pooled in the depths of her eyes.

"Oh, Danny," she said. "It's so wonderful up here!"

"I know. This is my favorite place in the world," he said softly, eyes never leaving the outline of her profile. Clouds shifted and moonlight rippled across her face, casting her in otherworldly relief, like some forgotten goddess of night.

She laid her head against his shoulder. Danny kissed her forehead tenderly and thanked his lucky star for the bundle of beautiful, impulsive, passionate, incredible woman in his arms. When the time came, he would ask her properly, with a ring in his hands and the night sky in his heart.

After all, _she said yes_.

* * *

**AN:** Thank you for reading!

How was the pacing? I tend to rush things, I've noticed, but I don't know if that's necessarily always a bad thing. In any case, let me know what you think :-)


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